


escape

by tsunderestorm



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: Ficlet, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:41:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26514634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsunderestorm/pseuds/tsunderestorm
Summary: “We’remakingour world right now, Tseng,” Rufus says, confident again, the fear that comes hand in hand with insomnia creeping away into the shadows of the night. Shinra, rising again. Their world, with everyone else just living in it.
Relationships: Rufus Shinra/Tseng
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	escape

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MeChewChew](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeChewChew/gifts).



> I asked for prompts on my [twitter](twitter.com/tsunderestorm). The prompt for this was, "I could escape when I was with you."

“Why did you stay?” Rufus asks, curious in the middle of one particularly sleepless night. Lying in the dark, Tseng can’t see the doubt on his face, can’t see that the walls are crumbling ever so slightly, that the pain is immense and daunting, that the doubt is coming in, creeping into cracks in careful foundation. “When I offered you an out.”

Tseng’s answer is concise, no frills. Refreshing in its crispness, it is soothing. A balm to a burn, the cool side of the pillow. His answer is ice cubes clinking against double-walled crystal, his voice smooth as fine whiskey. “I wanted to.”

It is the simple answer, and Rufus will find it unsatisfying. Tseng is not in the mood to play these games. 

“Why did you risk everything for me?” Rufus asks, shifting with no small amount of discomfort to lie on his side, to stare at the shape of Tseng illuminated by the moonlight trickling through the blinds. “All those years biding your time under his regime, reporting back to me. Waiting for my ascension. And for this?”

“You saved my life once,” Tseng answers. Another simple answer. Rufus should be grateful for simple answers, when the answer to the Planet’s biggest question right now is the farthest thing from simple. 

Rufus scoffs, and the sound is cacophonous and sharp in the still calm of the room. “So what you’re telling me is that our relationship is built on you believing I am owed your allegiance? I want _better_ , Tseng.”

In the dark, they are faceless. Shameless, and therefore blameless if the words are too much, too raw, and so Tseng steps outside of himself. He takes a risk, calculated and quick, and tells Rufus the truth. “Because when I was nothing, you saw me as something. Because I was just another body in a Shinra suit, and you refused to let me be just a weapon.”

“Because I could escape when I was with you,” Tseng finishes, seconds before his weight settles onto the foot of Rufus’ bed. His hand finds Rufus’, clasped atop the comforter and resting on the thin shape of his thigh. “Into our own world.”

“We’re _making_ our world right now, Tseng,” Rufus says, confident again, the fear that comes hand in hand with insomnia creeping away into the shadows of the night. Shinra, rising again. Their world, with everyone else just living in it.


End file.
